BUYING AN R1
If you’re after a 4XV or a 5JJ what do you need to look for? And what do they cost? Scott Redmond has some info…
Scott Redmond on what to look out for.
How on earth can the Yamaha R1 be 20 years old? Doesn’t time fly! In the 1990s I loved the race reputation, but often found my everyday needs required a less radical riding position and maybe not quite so much bhp. Then, when fuel-injection replaced carbs, I kinda lost interest in new bikes for a while – so that means that the first R1 (yup, with carbs) was the last big sports bike that got my attention. I fancied owning one, but the price tag was nudging £9000 back then, so I stuck to the older and more interesting stuff – but now… Prices for the 4XV R1 have been climbing steadily recently – they’ve rarely ever ended up below £2000 other than if they have been crashed or required lots of work. The demise of the two-stroke led to prices perking up for everything from an AR50 to an RG500 and one day that same historical sense will apply to bikes with carbs. What finer carb fed bike is there than the last Japanese litre sports bike from the last century that arrived wearing a bank of Mikuni’s finest? The R1 is coming of age, which means their worth will increase. Sure, dealers litter ebay with classified adverts for early R1 models (plus most other models) with asking prices of £4000 to £5000 and higher, but do they ever sell? The odd PPI payout might help one or two on their way to new owners, but other than that the same bikes appear if you search ebay on a regular basis. Bikes that appear for auction often vanish before the auction end, with deals done outside of the auction site, which makes perfect sense – when you’re buying any used bike you really should get off your arse and go and see the bike and the seller before agreeing to abide by the ebay rulebook. All of this nonsense leads me to tell you about this R1 that I purchased. A friend of mine got in touch to tell me he was selling his 1999 R1 and a few texts later I had put my name on it. He bought the bike back in 2007 and had owned it ever since. The previous owner was his wife! The ‘keep it in the family’ R1 was now surplus to requirements, as he’d bought a 2005 ZX-10R and spends his spare time and cash on his Ducati race bike. The cash would help to keep his racer on the track and the extra space was earmarked for more crash-damaged Ducati panels! His words, not mine. All I had to go on was a few phone pictures and a distant memory of seeing the bike back in 2009. It was more than enough for me. A few days later I was standing in his kitchen nattering about bikes and counting out £2750 in used notes. At this point I hadn’t even seen the bike. After emptying his shed of anything that was a R1 spare I finally clapped eyes on the Yammy. I was well chuffed. It was a smile out loud moment. The only non-standard parts were an old Micron alloy slip-on can and thankfully the spares package contained not one, but two standard Yamaha silencers! I knew what I’d be doing once I got back home. The screen fitted isn’t standard and worse still the original one wasn’t among the stash of parts (and
original screens are wanted… just ask Mark Forsyth, the owner of our road test 4XV.) Beyond those pair of aftermarket add-ons the R1 was pretty stock, except for some braided brake lines. Condition-wise it’s way above average for a 19-year-old bike that’s covered 27,000 miles. The mileage is genuine, it’s backed up by wads of service history, old MOT certificates and various other bits of paper that have been lovingly kept inside the Motorcycle City wallet. It’s touches like this that will help if I opt to sell this Uk-spec bike on in the future. The only downer is a ding to the top of the petrol tank, which happened at 0mph inside a shed – a nasty moment that involved an overloaded shelf that was above the R1, bugger! A large sticker would hide it, or a second-hand tank could be sourced… With the standard can fitted I even recouped £75 for the Micron can. In a strange twist of fate our very own lover of all things standard Andy Bolas spotted my advert online and requested my Paypal details! Cheers Andy. I’ve also sold off the bulk of the spares, mostly on ebay to hungry R1 owners, who snapped up over £500 worth of parts within a few weeks of me listing them – that should take the sting out of buying a replacement fuel tank! The bike now stands me in just over £2000. Do I stick a few more miles on it and leave it in my garage, or chance my arm and try to sell it on for a profit? I’m pretty torn – my heart says keep, my head shouts sell. I’m going to use it – that’s the thing with emerging classics – they’ve done their depreciating, which means they make great sense.